


Source Code

by sayijo



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Angst, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-16 06:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21031916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sayijo/pseuds/sayijo
Summary: [MAJOR SEASON 11 SPOILERS] With Zane lost in the Digiverse, the ninja embarks back into the digital realm in search of him. Bonds will be tested, connections will be broken, and old memories will be brought back to the surface.





	1. Start Up

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, there will be season 11 spoilers in here so watch out.

Kai could not believe what they had gone through. They had barely managed to head back to Ninjago by the skin of their teeth, dragging Zane’s lifeless, metallic body behind him. His body had shards of ice building up on the arms, his snow-white hair dancing in the breeze. His head lolled around lifelessly, half-lidded eyes revealing pale blue milky orbs.

They had stumbled through the portal, back into the secret underground base beneath the Monastery, all of them collapsing into an exhausted heap on the ground. Chests heaved up and down in an effort to draw the most oxygen to them, before Kai was the first one to sit up, crawling over to where Zane lay lifeless on the tile floor.

“Guys!” A shrill voice came calling out, and Kai forced himself to look back. Pixal and Wu were descending down the stairs, running over to the collapsed heap of ninja that had just popped into existence. Kai swallowed thickly before he stumbled to his feet, already knowing what was to come.

Pixal’s running came to a sudden halt as her eyes settled on the form of Zane. His head was now facing her, his dead, cold eyes staring deep into emerald green. She blinked in confusion for a few seconds before her eyes widened up in horror. She let out a small gasp, taking a shocked step backwards, getting into a semi-self defence pose because she didn’t know what else to do. Her shoulders shook softly, a hand going up to cover her mouth.

“What?” Pixal whimpered out. Her shoulders were beginning to tremble and she had her left hand covering her mouth. Her right hand was clenched into a fist as if she was fighting back the urge to punch someone. Silent tears began to stream down her face, small streams of water dripping off her chin.

The crew was silent as the rest of them staggered to their feet, all of them looking crestfallen. Cole had scooped Zane’s lifeless corpse off the ground, bridal style. The ice ninja’s head rested against Cole’s broad expanse of a chest, his eyes a cold, gray colour. His arms hung limp at his sides, his head beginning tilt backwards, his mouth slightly open. His metal skin had a strange blue tint to it, the ice beginning to melt and small droplets of water staining the blue floor.

“What happened?” Wu demanded, walking forward to where Cole was holding Zane in his arms.

“We—” Jay mumbled out before he choked up, and all of the ninja cast their eyes down onto the ground in shame. There was a pause, as they shuffled around awkwardly. When no one else spoke up, Jay opened his mouth once more.

“He...the staff corrupted him. There wasn’t any other way to get the staff out of his hands.” Jay trailed off, and a thick, heavy silence filled the room once more. No one dared to speak, and Wu glanced over to where Kai stood in front of them all, taking notice that his hands were clenched into fists and his arms were shaking. As he looked around, he could tell that they were all trembling to some extent.

* * *

_There was screaming._

_Five ninja had Zane pinned against his own icy throne, the ice ninja screaming and thrashing. Cole had reached for the staff and attempted to pull, trying to wrench it out of Zane’s hand._

_A surge of power ignited itself in Cole’s veins as his hands made contact with the staff, his eyes now glowing a bright green colour as a soft orange glow wafted off his form. Using the newfound strength, he aimed to pry the staff out of Zane’s hand, but the ice that had fused the shaft and the palm was rock solid._

_The ice ninja’s angered and enraged screaming was muffled by the mask that covered the lower half of his face. His eyes flared a bright, pale blue, his head snapping to his right to glare at Cole dead in the eyes. Several pikes of ice shot out from his arms, the air around them dropping several digits in temperature._

_One of the shards of ice grazed Cole’s face, and the earth ninja could feel as the warm liquid of blood ran down his cheek._

_“Get it out of his hand!” Kai demanded from where he was positioned, his hands pressing down on Zane’s chest as the ice ninja thrashed and his left hand reared back, aiming to punch the fire ninja’s face in._

_“I’m trying!” Cole snapped, and his heart dropped down to his stomach as he could hear the sound of feet approaching the throne. He turned around slightly, keeping Zane in his peripheral, and watched as Akita, in her wolf form, pressed herself close to the ground and began to growl._

_The army had arrived at the base of the throne._

* * *

They didn’t know what else to do.

They were all quiet as they trudged up the stairs and as Cole laid Zane on the couch in the living room. The gi near Zane’s chest was parted, revealing the scratched and dented metal underneath. The ugly mark of a palm was burned onto the left side of his chest, right along the edge where his chest compartment could be popped open.

Kai plopped down onto an armchair, leaning back on the backrest. He crossed his arms, almost as if holding himself in a self-cradle. His eyes were glazed over, staring unblinkingly at Zane’s body on the couch. Dead, pale cyan eyes met emerald green, and Kai grimaced for a second before he turned his head away. He rubbed at the back of his head, ruffling the high volume soft chocolate brown locks of hair that lay on his scalp.

They made an awkward semicircle around Zane, all staring down at his body.

“Do we...do something?” Nya mumbled meekly, casting an eye around at the crew that stood silently around them. They all seemed to go through the same mental turmoil, as they cast glances around at one another. Finally, Pixal seemed to snap out of her shock and spoke up.

All of them turned their attention to her as she stood, back straight, green eyes burning with a newfound sense of determination.

“We take him to Borg.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im winging this entire fic yall


	2. Recovery

Borg took off his glasses with shaky hands, folding them and placing them on his lap. He cast a worried eye over at Zane who lay on a table, eyes still closed and his skin still had that strange glowing cyan tint to it. The inventor’s left hand reached over to fidget with the glove on his right hand, biting his bottom lip as he did so. 

“W— well?! Can’t you _ do _something?” Kai was the first to speak up, pushing his way through the crew to stand in front of them all. He was sporting a black eye, the bruise most likely just beginning to form. He still hadn’t changed out of his torn-up gi, dark red stains and black soot tainting the red fabric.

Borg looked around for a few seconds. He turned his wheelchair around before he wheeled himself so that he was situated in front of a few screens. He seemed to be lost in thought for a few more seconds, as he mindlessly tapped around on the keyboard, the rest of the crew collectively holding their breath. 

“Pixal dear, do you mind connecting the fibre cable to Zane?” Cyrus asked without even looking over his shoulder. Pixal nodded, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to see her, and jogged over to the table. The crew parted for her, giving her a path to walk through. She picked up the cable in question and, using her right hand, gently turned Zane’s head to the side so that his neck would become exposed.

There was a port.

She wasted no time in plugging him in.

A suspenseful silence hung in the air. 

There was a small mechanical whirr, and a few windows popped up on the screen.

“So?!” Cole questioned, moving past Kai to look at the monitor, completely blocking the fire ninja’s field of view.

“Do you see anything?!” Kai inquired immediately after, advancing forward to push Cole out of the way. His movement seemed to get everyone moving, as now a crowd of people were pushing at each other, trying to get a glimpse at what was on screen. 

“I would advise not crowding around Cyrus’s desk.” Pixal spoke up. No one seemed to hear her, as the group of ninja all leaned over the inventor, eyes darting as they took up the letters and numbers that ran across the screen.

“What does any of this mean?!” Kai snapped, his patience wearing thin by the second. He had his hands grasping onto the edge of the backrest on the wheelchair, grip tightening up the more time seemed to stretch on. They all watched as Cyrus instinctively typed down lines of programming onto whatever software he had open.

“Cyrus?” Nya queried tentatively from her spot on the inventor’s right. They all seemed to go quiet, the only sounds being the noises of his hands on the mechanical keyboard. 

“It is difficult to determine when I’ll be able to confirm Zane’s existence,” Borg said slowly as if mulling his words over to prevent the crew from bursting out into outrage. They all held their breath and listened intently, Kai nodding as if to push him to keep talking.

“Uhm, give it about five hours.”

“Five _ hours?!” _Kai shrieked, not quite believing what he was hearing. The rest of the crew shifted in surprise, all of them casting glances at one another. Borg flinched slightly before he nodded.

“Unfortunately, yes. His processor must’ve suffered some sort of damage, and it may take a while to fully recover. I will aid the process by backing up the data to lessen the workload. But waking up will be all on him.” Borg explained gently, wheeling away from his desk to join Pixal beside the table.

“I’d suggest you sit down and wait.”

* * *

It didn’t take five hours. 

As Kai slowly watched as the hour hand of the clock moved past the five-hour mark, his leg bouncing impatiently. The ninja were all scattered in different places around the room, trying to kill time but being unable to. The sun had long begun to set, casting a soft yellow glow through the windows, elongated shadows stretching along the wall.

Borg was still hunched over at his desk, typing away at his keyboard, the screen’s light reflecting off his glasses. He reached over for the fifth cup of coffee that hour, taking a large gulp before he glaced it back down at his side.

“That is rather odd.” Borg mumbled, unaware that everyone in the room was eavesdropping on him. Before he knew it, there was a crowd of people pushing down on him, all of them trying to take a glance at what was on his screen.

“What?” Kai snapped. “What’s wrong?”

Borg looked over his shoulder to glance at them all. He seemed to think for a few seconds before he resumed typing on the keyboard. He pressed one button and allowed his fingers to curl up into fists as if he was afraid of touching anything else.

A small dialogue box popped up with a string of code.

Borg hissed quietly.

He turned to face the ninja once more, their looks of anticipation deflating once they took in his expression.

“We have a problem.” He spoke. 


	3. String

Zane woke up cold.

There was a strange thickness that hung in the air, a bottomless feeling building in his gut. His eyelids were as heavy as a rock, struggling to open no matter how hard he forced them to. He could see a small crack of light appearing on the horizon of his vision, the glow seeping its way into the black void that surrounded his figure. 

Finally, his eyes opened up fully and the light finally filled his vision. 

He was suspended in the air, bright cyan tendrils of rope keeping him suspended. They coiled around his arms and his legs, keeping his hands tucked over one another on his chest. He stood upright, although he was tilted towards the ground a bit, the feeling of the string digging into his front side as they kept him up.

_ “Where..?” _

The world he woke in had a strange cyan glow to it, small white particles wafting off the gridded floor. The plains seemed to stretch on for miles in every direction, the floor a few feet below Zane’s toes. The sky was a shade darker than the ground, and Zane could see hints of cyan code running through the sky, their opacity fading out the more the sky got closer to him. 

He squirmed a bit, trying to untangle himself from the mess of string keeping him in place—

He gasped a bit as the strings bled into a bright red colour, their loose form suddenly snapping to become taut, the thin wires digging into his skin, feeling as his forearms pressed in closer towards his chest. He winced a bit and cried at the feeling of them lacing into his body, making it feel as if the strings were on fire. 

The strings returned to their original colour, becoming slack as they released him.

_ “I can’t move?” _

He looked down at his body.

His body was of the same pale blue, seemingly glowing along with the strings. Pixel-like particles were coming off his form like steam from a pot, multiple dark cyan strands of verticle code running through his semi-translucent skin. 

He understood where he was now.

The Digiverse. 

He cautiously turned his head left and right, testing to see if the strings wrapped around him would sense the movement. Once nothing happened, he strained his head to look behind him, trying to see whatever structure the strings were connected to.

_ A looming figure, the size of a twenty-story building, made up of a navy smoke that barely resembled a person, although the particles that blew off its body were of a blue many tints lighter. Glowing orbs of fire orange eyes were fixed on its head, the edges of them bleeding into a crimson red. Six dark tendrils shot out its back, rocketing straight for the group of four ninja. _

_ Golden light at the top of a tower, like a lighthouse. _

_ A beam of light shooting itself straight at him, his hand outstretched to take it, watching as the white fabric on his arm faded to a golden colour. The light had bathed him in its glow, a warm feeling igniting itself just from underneath his skin. _

He was underneath the Digiverse. Where it had all happened. 

He was affixed to the same lighthouse-like structure from all those years back. As he forced himself to look up, he was aware of the same light at its peak, although the glow from the core seemed to be dimmer than the last time he saw it.

“What happened?” He struggled to remember. 

His memory came back in chunks.

_ A snake that was wearing fire. Or was she made of fire? He couldn’t tell. _

_ A staff, held in his hands, the burning feeling of frostbite sending itself to his pain receptors. Pure power flickered through his skin, and he found himself unable to let go. His fingers were wrapped tightly around the metal, _

_ Falling. _

_ A land made of snow, with the sun setting one hour after it had risen, a violent wind sending up snow on the ground as the gust itself sounded like a pack of starving wolves. _

_ A strange figure, dressed like a peasant, with a straw hat and a bushy mustache. They were in a cave, the surrounds dark and cold. He had said something about him being an advisor. _

_ The same staff from before was pressed into his hands by the stranger. _

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Surely his memory would come back to him over time.

That didn’t explain why he was there though. 

And where was everyone else?

“Kai?” Zane called out, looking around at the vast, barren landscape he was planted into.

“Cole?” He asked again, feeling a small panic building itself up at the back of his throat. He forced it down by swallowing thickly, trying to find a way out of the predicament that he had found himself in.

_ “The only limit is your imagination!” Borg had told them right before sending them off to erase the Digital Overlord. The inventor had laughed, not at all concerned about the high risk of such a mission. He slammed his fist down onto the button to execute the program. _

Zane sighed.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. If he imagined the strings disappearing, then they would, right? The only limit was his own imagination, right? It couldn’t too hard to image the strings dissolving. Or maybe they’d be cut. Or perhaps that they would just slowly phase out of existence. 

But nothing happened. 

His eyes opened once more.

He was still in the same exact place, the same exact position. 

Absolutely nothing had changed.

“You didn’t think it’d be that easy, right?”

Zane turned his head to his left and came face to face with someone he’d never thought he’d see again.

OoOoO

“Something is halting the progress of Zane’s data to his body.” Borg explained, clicking around on his screen, reading and rereading code to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He looked a bit startled, his eyes darting around like a prey looking out for a predator.

“It is..._ very _ strange.” Borg mused, but it seemed to be his own thoughts said aloud rather than being directed towards anyone else. He typed around for a few more moments in silence, all of them in the group staring at the inventor’s screen.

“There’s nothing in the code that indicates the problem. But something is definitely there. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Borg wrung his hands around, not knowing what to do with them. He placed one hand on the keyboard before he began tapping on it rapidly with his index finger.

A pause.

“What do we do then?” Jay asked nervously, glancing around at the rest of the team. He looked back at Zane, biting his bottom lip as his eyes rested themselves on the ice ninja’s lifeless corpse. The white ninja’s head had rolled and his face was now facing them. A shiver ran down his spine once his cold, dead eyes seemed to stare directly at them. 

Another small gap of silence.

“It’s easy.” Cole straightened his body, the rest of the team glancing up at him.

“We go after him.”

  



	4. Run

Cole stared down at the new gi that was folded in his hands. The torso area was a thick, dark black, and the sleeves and hood were comprised of light orange. A thin film of pale white grids was laid near the ends of the sleeves, almost like music bars, almost translucent against the orange and only visible if you shone a light at it at the right angle. He was already decked out in orange pants, accompanied with black combat boots. A dark-gray fabric was wound tightly around each of his lower legs. 

* * *

_ “These uniforms will hide your presence in the Digiverse once you transfer over.” Borg had explained, passing out the stack of fabric to Cole, the earth ninja proceeding to distribute them amongst the rest of the crew. They glanced down at their new gis, running their hands along the fabric, feeling the small jagged circuit designs engraved into the smooth surface. _

_ “Why do we need these, exactly?” Kai grumbled, staring down at his gi. He pulled up a red sleeve, examining the small designs on it. He huffed a bit, licking at his lips where a bruise had begun to form.  _

_ “We’re not hiding from anyone.” _

_ Pixal and Borg glanced at one another. _

_ “What?” Kai asked, glancing up once a beat of silence passed between them. He looked around at the rest of the ninja, wondering if they knew something that he didn’t. Once he didn’t get a response, he glanced back at Pixal and Borg.  _

_ “We have reason to believe that whatever is blocking the signal is...is sentient.” Pixal explained, leaning her back against the desk, planting her hands on the edge. _

_ A stunned silence. _

_ “What?” Kai half-whispered, half-hissed, leaning in closer towards Nya, who was standing on his right. A look of confusion passed over his features, a brow raised and his mouth set in a frown. “What does that mean?”  _

_ “The blockage can think for itself. It has consciousness. It is like...Zane.” Pixal continued to explain once she heard him, her right hand fidgeting with a loose notch on her samurai armour. She looked over at Zane once more. The ice ninja was laid on his side, his head propped up by a pillow and a blanket thrown over his form. _

_ “...Then… it’s doing it on purpose?” Lloyd spoke up. Everyone turned to face him. The green ninja fidgeted with his new uniform before he threw the top over his plain, mint green t-shirt. He shimmied around a bit, his arms over his head as he wiggled into the gi. His head popped out the top once more, golden hair forming around his face. _

_ A pause, all of them glancing at Borg. _

_ “Yes.” He nodded. _

* * *

“Hey, Cole.” Said ninja snapped out of his thoughts, glancing up. He was seated on a bench in the hallway, the walls casting a slight grayish-blue on his entire form, light spilling out from a window wall and the end of the hall. Kai was standing in front of him now, dressed in his new gi. The black eye the fire ninja was sporting was now fading due to the ice packs he had pressed against it for hours, multiple bandages slapped over his wounds and cuts. 

“Hey.” Cole gave a tight-lipped smile, scooting over a bit so that Kai could sit down beside him.

Kai plopped down on Cole’s left. He leaned back rather roughly, his back hitting the wall. He let out a deep sigh as he slid down, slumping further down in his seat until he was pretty much sliding out of the bench. 

There was a beat of silence that passed between them.

“We can’t catch a break, can we?” Cole laughed bitterly, his voice slightly husky. He leaned forward, hunched, his elbows resting on his knees. He had discarded his new gi onto the floor, the uniform landing in a messy heap as it hit the ground. He kept his eyes on the ground, staring at his shoes.

Kai only let out a long sigh in response. 

“I just....I just wanted everything to go back to normal.” Kai’s voice came out softer than he had wished. He swung one leg over the other, crossing his arms as he let out another huff. 

Just knowing that on the other side of the wall was Zane’s body was enough for him to break into a cold sweat. 

“There’s no  _ normal  _ for us, though.” Cole replied, his eyes darting over to his left, taking in Kai’s crestfallen expression. The fire ninja had tucked his face into his collar, looking like he wanted to melt into the ground.

Kai let out a short, barking laugh. “Guess you’re right.”

A pause.

“So, uh, you think it’ll run smoothly?” Kai asked, his eyes glancing off at his side to take in Cole. 

“Knowing it’s us?” The earth ninja raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so.”

Silence.

“We can hope so, right?” Cole continued, chuckling. Kai laughed as well, his lips parting to reveal his rather sharp canines. The laughter soon died down, but the bright energy was left shimmering between them.

“...come on.” Kai sat up straighter, reaching over and giving Cole’s leg a couple of pats. He smiled weakly, using his free hand to brush some stray hair away from his eyes. He got up, arching his back as he stretched.

“Let’s go.”

“...what?” Cole questioned.

“What do you mean what? Let’s go get Zane.”

“I thought we agreed on a one day break first.” Cole spoke.

There was a pause, and Kai’s expression morphed into one of confusion. The atmosphere dampened immediately.

“Huh?” 

“Yeah.” Cole nodded. 

“But— but it— it’s  _ Zane, _ ” Kai argued, beginning to look rather distraught. He stared deep into Cole’s eyes, and the earth ninja could see the hurt and fear behind those green irises. Cole sighed loudly, glancing back down at the ground.

“I  _ know  _ it’s Zane.” Cole started, his hands folding on his lap. “But most of us don’t have the strength to jump immediately on a rescue mission. Shit. Kai, we just got back from the Never Realm  _ today _ . We don’t even know what will be waiting for us on the other side. We can’t just jump in unprepared.”

“But— but how do we know it won’t be too late by then?! How do we know nothing bad is happening to him right now?!!” Kai answered, his voice speeding up, picking up urgency as it snowballed. 

“I don’t know that, Kai,” Cole explained slowly, knowing any wrong word would set Kai off. “But, we need the rest. Jay can’t even stand up, Lloyd still needs to recover his strength and get some rest. And so do you. W—”

“You’re just going to leave him there?! You’re just going to abandon him, right after we got him back?!” 

“We’ve—!” Cole started to speak, but he cut himself off rather quickly, blinking as he tried to come up with something better to say. He sputtered out random syllables, his hands balled into fists. He finally decided to keep his mouth shut, closed in a thin line, as he let in a deep breath.

“Kai, I’m  _ sorry.  _ But...I’m sorry.”

“What were you  _ going  _ to say?” Cole looked at the fire ninja, startled by his question. Kai stood looming over his form, his face set in a scowl. His glare was enough to turn anyone into stone. His eyes had lost all their shine, all of their life.

“...what—”

“What were you  _ going  _ to say!?” Kai repeated himself, his voice now a yell. “Were you going to say that we can’t afford to lose anyone else!? That Zane isn’t worth it!?”

“Kai, I—”

“Shut the fuck up!” Kai yelled, and Cole’s heart dropped once fresh tears began to run down the fire ninja’s face. Kai angled his head slightly upwards to stop them from falling, using his palms to wipe at his face angrily. 

“I can’t fucking believe—!” Kai inhaled rather loudly. “We just— I— you’re just going to—!”

Cole was quiet for a few seconds. He bit his bottom lip, before his gaze trained itself back on his shoes. They stayed like that for a while, with Kai standing up, wiping his face, and Cole hunched over on the bench.

Kai opened his mouth to say something before another voice interrupted him. 

“Cole? Kai?” They turned to their right to see Borg wheeling himself out of his office. He glanced worryingly over at the two, seemingly struggling through his words. He wrung his hands together for a few moments before placing them on his lap.

“The transfer is ready for tomorrow.” Borg explained quietly. 

“Thank you, Borg.” Cole nodded as the inventor wheeled himself up to them.

“Anything else you need?” Borg asked. He looked dishevelled; his hair was poking upwards at odd angles and there were dark bags under his eyes. He looked out the window at the end of the hall, the setting sun reflecting off his glasses, lighting the room in a warm orange.

“No, it’s okay.” Cole gave a weak smile before shaking his head. “Thank y—”

“I have a question.” Kai gave one last sniffle before he swallowed thickly, turning to face the inventor. He practically loomed over Borg, the light from the window illuminating his back and casting a shadow on his front.

“What is it?” Borg pushed his glasses back upwards a bit on his nose, the slight change of angle causing the sun to glare off the glass. Cole glanced up at the fire ninja but remained quiet, resorting to twiddling his thumbs as he listened in on their conversation.

“Could we be able to transfer over today?” Kai blurted out.

Cole froze up.

“Well, yes, but—”

“Stop him!” Cole screamed, already reaching forward to grab the back of Kai’s uniform.

But it was too late. 

Kai took off bolting down the hall, sprinting like a madman, already several arm’s lengths away before Cole could even stand up. The earth ninja took off down the hall after him, their shadows long and dark against the wall. He reached out a hand to reach for Kai hood, but his fingers slipped on the smooth material.

Shit.

His balance was all off. Cole let out a curse once he realized that he had titled too far forward. The ground came rushing up to meet him, and he let out a grunt as his arms came up to cushion his fall, trying to get them to push him back onto his feet.

He felt his heart drop when Kai took a sharp turn to his right, disappearing into the room.

The door slammed shut behind the fire ninja, and there was the sickening sound of it locking. 


End file.
